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Kat’s eyes widened. “Is that another special gift?”
Joss shook his head. “It’s an anomaly.”
“Let him try,” Clelia said. “Maybe he’ll pick up something Eve hasn’t uncovered.”
Kat looked at Lann. He tried his best to give her a reassuring smile.
“Will it hurt?” Kat asked Joss.
“It’s just a prick of the finger,” the commander said.
Kat seemed uncertain, but she nodded. “I suppose it can’t do any harm.”
“I can’t guarantee that it’ll work,” Joss said. “What I get is rarely the same. It depends on the person.” He hesitated. “You should also know that it could reveal emotions.” He waited for the meaning of his words to sink in. “It’s like prying on a person’s soul. You’ll be an open book.”
Kat blinked, and then gave a nervous laugh. “So much for hiding my feelings.”
“I need a needle,” Joss said to Eve.
The doctor gave him a sealed hypodermic needle from her bag. He handed it to Lann. “Prick her middle finger.”
Lann removed the needle and took Kat’s cold hand. “Ready?”
She nodded. He pricked her finger, but she said nothing as the droplet of blood pooled on her skin. It reminded him of the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. Except in this one, Katherine wouldn’t only sleep for one hundred years. In this one, his kiss would be powerless and darkness would claim her forever.
A somber ambience hung over the room. The grandfather clock stroke in the corner, ringing out the verdict of limited time. Joss glanced at Clelia. Something passed between them. Clelia smiled at her husband. It was a private smile that spoke of sharing secrets. Lann looked away. He couldn’t bear witnessing the intimate exchange. It only added to the message of the clock, that his time was short, and fast running out.
“Please hand me that spoon, little witch,” Joss said to his wife, his voice suddenly tender.
Clelia handed him a clean coffee spoon from the tray, which he gave to Lann. “Just a drop is enough.”
Lann caught the ruby drop on the tip of the spoon, and handed it back to Joss.
They watched in silence as Joss brought the spoon to his lips and tasted. He closed his eyes and stood motionless for a while. No one moved. One could hear a pin drop in the room.
When Joss opened his eyes again, the sad light reflecting in those steel-grey pools made Lann’s heart clench. He couldn’t ask. It was Cain who spoke for him.
“Well?” Cain sat down in the chair next to the sofa.
Joss shook his head.
Kat sagged in her seat. Lann squeezed her shoulder.
She pulled her back straight and offered Joss a smile. “Thanks for trying.” She got up. “I’ll leave you to your discussion.” Turning to Clelia, she said, “I’ll start lunch.”
Clelia and Lann protested simultaneously, but Kat said, “I’m better now. I feel like my old self again.”
No one argued when she walked to the door.
Joss’s words stopped her in the frame. “Would you like to know the sex of the baby?”
Kat turned back to them, her eyes trained on Lann. “Would you?”
No. He didn’t want to know. Couldn’t face it. The truth of it was too raw. It would force him to acknowledge a fact he couldn’t, but the light in her eyes told him her answer. Katherine wanted to know.
Carefully pushing back his emotions, Lann smiled at Kat and nodded.
She turned her head expectantly toward Joss.
“It’s a boy,” Joss said softly.
Her expression filled with joy, but the tears were there too. They made the sky-blue color of her eyes glisten even if she didn’t release them. The air around him turned warmer.
“Thank you,” she said, her beautiful voice unwavering. “It will make it easier to choose a name.”
He knew why Kat was so touched. Eve would’ve told them eventually, but not for a while still. Lann understood Katherine better than she thought. She wanted to live with the knowledge for as long as possible.
When she made to exit again, he moved forward, but she held up her hand.
“I’m going to prepare lunch,” she said. “Please, finish your business meeting.”
He also knew that meant she needed time. Alone. It went against his every instinct to let her walk out of the room.
Kat was chopping vegetables in the kitchen when Clelia walked in with the wolves at her heels. They joined Tripod on the cushions in the corner.
Clelia touched her arm. “You look tired. Why don’t you go for a nap?”
Kat shook her hair over her shoulder, concentrating on not cutting her fingers. “I need to keep busy.”
“I understand.” Clelia took a pan from a hook above the fireplace and placed it on the stove. “Sometimes, I need to keep busy too.”
Snow yelped. Clelia went over and gave him a scratch behind the ear.
“They’re always with you,” Kat said.
Clelia’s smile was affectionate. “Not so long ago, someone threatened my life, and they saved me.” She patted Snow’s head. “Snow suffered from first degree burns, but he pulled through. After that incident, they don’t leave my side, at least not when I’m on the property.”
